FALL CLASSICAL MUSIC PREVIEW

From Muti to Mussorgsky, an eventful season

September 16, 2011|John von Rhein | Classical music critic

Autumn is when Chicago's classical music organizations put some of their fanciest wares on the market. More presenters are doing so than ever, leaving audience members to face an ever more bewildering array of choices. Which events you opt to attend will, of course, depend on your artistic tastes, time, budget and other factors. May the following, admittedly personal, selection of fall classical highlights guide you in the right directions.

Riccardo Muti andChicago Symphony Orchestra

In a sense, the maestro's second season as music director is actually his first, since his 2010-11 residency was cut short by illness. Lots of good things crowd Muti's fall calendar with the CSO. You won't want to miss their tribute to the Franz Liszt bicentenary, a re-creation of the exact program (Piano Concerto No. 1 and "A Faust Symphony") the orchestra performed 100 years ago in honor of the composer's centennial. Also, note the unusual, Italian-themed program with which Muti and the CSO are marking the centenary of Gustav Mahler's death: a piece-by-piece re-creation of the final concert program Mahler ever conducted. Liszt, Sept. 30-Oct. 4; Mahler,Oct. 6-8;$25-$220;Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave.;312-294-3000,cso.org

Offenbach's 'The Tales of Hoffmann'

It's a new season and a new era at Lyric Opera, with Anthony Freud, the company's new general director, presiding over a diverse season planned by his predecessor, William Mason. Unaccountably absent from the Lyric repertory for nearly 30 years, "Hoffmann" returns with acclaimed tenor Matthew Polenzani in his Chicago role debut as the lovelorn poet. His three amours are Anna Christy as Olympia, Erin Wall as Antonia and Alyson Cambridge as Giulietta. James Morris portrays the four villains, with Emmanuel Villaume pacing a production staged by Stephane Roche. Oct. 1-29;$34-$224;Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive;312-332-2244,lyricopera.org

Music of the Baroque

Music director Jane Glover begins the group's 41st season with a program of Mozart and Beethoven masterworks. Her frequent collaborator, the splendid English pianist Imogen Cooper, will perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 and Beethoven's "Choral Fantasy," with other Beethoven works rounding out the orchestral and choral program. Oct. 2at First United Methodist Church, 1630 Hinman Ave., Evanston;Oct. 3 at Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph St.;$30-$75;312-551-1414,baroque.org

International Contemporary Ensemble

The fearless Chicago- and New York-based champions of new and newer music begin the second season of their three-season MCA residency with "Chance Encounters," an intriguing program that answers the question: What do chamber works by 20th century composers Anton Webern, John Cage, Morton Feldman, Iannis Xenakis and Pauline Oliveros have in common? Oct. 5;$22 MCA members, $28 nonmembers, $10 students;Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.;312-397-4010,mcachicago.com

Baroque Band

Guest artist for the opening concerts of the Chicago period instrument group's fifth season will be soprano Emma Kirkby, one of the original driving forces behind historically informed early music performance in England. Music director Garry Clarke leads vocal and instrumental works by Pergolesi, Buxtehude and Vivaldi. Oct. 12at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave.;Oct. 14at Music Institute of Chicago, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston;and Oct. 15at Augustana Lutheran Church, 5500 S. Woodlawn Ave.;$15-$35;312-235-2368,baroqueband.org

Harry Bicket and English Concert

The British early music specialist will be much in evidence here this season, what with engagements with Lyric Opera and Baroque Band. Bicket brings his famed period-instruments group to Hyde Park to kick off the University of Chicago Presents early music series with a program of Purcell, Vivaldi and Telemann. Oct. 14; $40, $5 students;Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th St.;773-702-8068,chicagopresents.uchicago.edu

MusicNOW

The CSO's busy composers in residence, Mason Bates and Anna Clyne, will host the opening program of the orchestra's merrily eclectic new music series. This one includes a new piece by former CSO resident composer John Corigliano, along with chamber works by Donnacha Dennehy and Chicago composer Kirsten Broberg. Oct. 17;$22;Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph St.;312-294-3000,cso.org

Mussorgsky's 'Boris Godunov'

The return of this greatest of Russian operas to the Lyric Opera repertory, after a 17-year absence, is big news. The imposing bass Ferruccio Furlanetto will impersonate the tortured czar. Other cast members include Stefan Margita, Erik Nelson Werner, Andrea Silvestrelli and Raymond Aceto. Music director Andrew Davis will be conducting Mussorgsky's original version, starker and more powerful than the familiar Rimsky-Korsakov edition. Julia Pevzner is the stage director. Nov. 7-29;$34-$224;Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive;312-332-2244,lyricopera.org

Vienna Symphony Orchestra

Visiting orchestras are few on the ground this autumn, so the return of Vienna's other celebrated orchestra merits special attention. Principal conductor Fabio Luisi, who assumed the same title at the Metropolitan Opera this month, leads Brahms' Second Symphony and Beethoven's "Triple" Concerto, with the Eroica Trio as soloists. Nov. 7;$20-$45;Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph St.;312-334-7777,harristheaterchicago.org

Strauss' 'Ariadne auf Naxos'

Straussians will be thrilled that Lyric Opera is bringing back this endearing work, this time as a star vehicle for one of its most celebrated alumni, soprano Amber Wagner, who will take on the title role for the first time in Chicago. Her colleagues include Brandon Jovanovich as Bacchus, Anna Christy as Zerbinetta and Alice Coote as the composer. Andrew Davis conducts. The production is by John Cox. Nov. 19-Dec. 11;$34-$224;Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive;312-332-2244,lyricopera.org